Alternative Birthing Methods

Thanks Trina. Yes, I've seen it featured at Unang Hirit and I want to try it for my second baby (hope that will be soon :) ). 

I did lamaze for my first two children (both 8 pound babies, delivered by my father in law who is an OB gynecologist). On my third time to give birth, I wanted to know the relief of epidural. And my goodness --- what a relief it was!! It was soo easy, that I literlly didn''t sweat! I was wondering at that point why I had to do lamaze the first two times! I figured nobody gets a medal for doing lamaze! Epidural was simply heaven. I must have been crazy to do lamaze, seriously. Natural birth methods are overrated. I should know, been there, done that.

I did lamaze for my first two children (both 8 pound babies, delivered by my father in law who is an OB gynecologist). On my third time to give birth, I wanted to know the relief of epidural. And my goodness --- what a relief it was!! It was soo easy, that I literlly didn't sweat! I was wondering at that point why I had to do lamaze the first two times! I figured nobody gets a medal for doing lamaze! Epidural was simply heaven. I must have been crazy to do lamaze, seriously. Natural birth methods are overrated. I should know, been there, done that.

Hi Ditas! You can check out this link www.unanghirit.tv/. I remember seeing a book in National bookstore as well.

I've done Bradley for my first birthing, twins. We preferred it over Lamaze in how to deal with the pain. Our trainer, who is now our dear friend, is accredited by the American Academy for Husband-Coached Childbirth, which is the official training provider of the Bradley method.

The whole point is getting the mom to relax and let the birth happen.  Warm water is always relaxing, right? Plus the baby goes from water to water. Lamaze is about focusing on something else. Other methods involve breathing patterns.

Dr. Robert Bradley was the first to fight for HUSBANDS being with their wives during the birthing. He helps the mother prepare with exercises to strengthen the muscles involved in pregnancy and birth, and the husbands are trained to be coaches. Medication is also discussed.

For managing the contractions, the husband has to help his wife relax, which means during the pregnancy, he should know his wife so well, he can catch the little tension signs. My husband caught my eyebrows frowning. I didn't even feel them! He's also to help her breathe calmly and deeply, which for a lot of us is more relaxing that breathing patterns or panting. Then we close our eyes and remember that each contraction is one step closer to the birth, instead of focusing on something else to distract us from the pain.

He also advocated the mother pushing in an almost seated position, pulling the legs back, instead of lying down and doing a half-crunch. If possible, squatting is the best position because you have gravity on your side, and it shortens the passage the baby has to go through, not to mention helps it widen a bit more. And right after birth, the baby is given to the mom to hold against her bare chest, then both mom and child are wrapped in a warm blanket. Lastly, orange juice for the mom to help replenish lost fluids and nutrients. It's not called LABOR for nothing.^_^

Oops...frustrated trainer speaking. One of my dreams is to get accredited for AAHCC to help educate and empower expecting parents. I so appreciated Chiqui Hahn's work with us (if you're preggy and interested, shoot me a private message and i'll give you her number), i've done a lot of reading on it, too.

Marigine, where can i find (info on) sayuntis?

Worth trying as well the new sayuntis, these are dance steps for pregnant women.

Apparently the warm water helps ease the pain and it also balances out the woman's body, making it easier for her to push the baby out. Lots of Lamaze techniques involved as well. 

I read about it on this article-- it's available in some hospitals like Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang. 

well I never tried any of those yet, although I had already read in the newspaper and magazines regarding water birthing... don't know how it works... I only saw that they would ask the mom to be to sit in a make shift pool and start giving birth... I don't know how they are dealing with the pain without the pain relivers